Author's Note: Thanks for all the OC submissions! The first OC chapter should come either tomorrow or the day after, and I'll do my best to stick to your characters!

Day Five: Ash x May

Ash sat alone by the school cafeteria's windows. It was a rarity. He was, after all, the most popular kid in Pallet Town High School, but here, he sat alone as he stared at the menorah in the window. He briefly wondered who actually put it there. It wasn't like anyone in the school was actually Jewish.

Due to his focus on the window, he didn't notice a familiar girl walk towards him, and he didn't see her stop in the middle of the cafeteria. She lingered there for a moment to stare at him until she finally had to turn and walk to another empty table on the other side of the room.

"Oh Ash," May whispered as she placed a hand over her heart.

She sat down with a heavy plop. Part of her wanted to break down into tears. She was, after all, just a skater girl. She wasn't cute like that preppy cheerleader Dawn who for some reason (possibly sympathy) hung out with her. She wasn't even beautiful like Misty, Ash's next door neighbor who happened to hang around him most of the time. In fact, she wondered if he even noticed her half the time. It seemed that lately, he was looking at Dawn's girlish figure and Misty's rear a lot more than anything that might happen to be around them, and even then, he often pretended he didn't care about all of that. He was the epitome of cool in that school. The bane of every teacher they had. The stoic badass.

No matter what she did, she just couldn't say hello. He was right there, and she couldn't say a word. In English, when she found herself spacing out thanks to disinterest, she found herself staring at the back of his head, but she couldn't pass him a note to tell him she liked him. In chemistry, when he worked at the table behind her (attempting, of course, to set things on fire using the Bunsen burner), she could only turn around and ask to borrow one instrument or another. And there he was right then, alone at a lunch table, and she couldn't do a thing.

Taking several shaky breaths, she crossed her arms and buried her face in them. Over and over again, the same questions echoed through her head.

Do I matter to him? Did I ever matter to him?

In response, she clenched her teeth hard. She was shaking, and her vision was blurring with tears.

What should I say to him? she thought. I can't approach him!

"May?"

She looked up at the sound of the girl's voice. There, she saw Dawn staring at her with wide eyes and a broad smile on her face.

"Oh! Hi, Dawn," she said as she did her best to force herself to smile.

"What are you doing all the way over here?" Dawn asked. "Come on! Ash is alone, girl! We're eating over there!"

Before May could protest, Dawn grabbed her wrist and pulled her to her feet. She cried out, but the blue-haired girl simply dragged her back across the room to the window with the menorah. Ash was still sitting there, staring at the window.

"Ash!" Dawn called. "Ash, look! Look who I found!"

The boy looked up to see Dawn approach with May stumbling behind her. As soon as Dawn skidded to a halt, May stood awkwardly next to her younger companion. Her blue eyes rose to the ceiling as her hands clasped behind her head.

"Hi, Ash," she said sheepishly.

"May!"

At once, Ash jumped to his feet. With a smile, he stepped forward to approach her.

"May, I was just thinking about you!" he said.

She blushed. "You… you were?"

"Yeah," Ash replied. "I was wondering where you were. Were you avoiding me?"

Quickly, May shook her head. "No! Why would I—" Then, she paused. "Yes."

Raising his eyebrows, Ash looked at Dawn. "Hey, thanks. Uh, if you don't mind…"

Dawn raised a hand and waggled her fingers. "Don't mention it."

With a wink and a smile, she walked towards a table where Brock and Misty were already seated. When she was out of earshot, Ash turned back to May and placed his hands on her shoulders.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

May looked down and sighed. "Sort of. It's just… I've been waiting forever to tell you something, Ash, and I didn't know how to say it. I just didn't think you'd pay attention."

"Why wouldn't I pay attention?"

She glared at him. "Because I saw you kissing a certain Santa Misty underneath the mistletoe last night."

"Oh." Ash rocked back on his heels and smiled at the ceiling. "That."

May narrowed her eyes. "I think we should start seeing other people. Happy Hanukkah."